Evening Star
by Lenalesca
Summary: KHR AU/Modern: Kyoko has always been the average girl nerd in school. After graduating from university with a degree which allows her to work in the medical laboratory, she thought her life would remain mundane. That is until she bumped into her high school crush, the back-then most popular guy in school – Tsunayoshi Sawada, in the Emergency Department.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Beeeep! Beeeeeeep! Beee-" Kyoko scrambled up from her bed in the dark and quickly silenced her alarm clock app on her smartphone.

"Ugh…" She rubbed her face before turning on her bedside lamp. The clock on the wall says 10.45PM. The joys of graveyard shift in the medical laboratory of the local hospital, Kyoko rolled her eyes and grimaced. Kicking off her sheets, she began her pre-graveyard shift ritual which includes: brushing teeth, wash face, butter on toast, big coat, and scarf. Taking a deep breath, she muttered: "Think of the extra money for this shift…those new boots are _not_ going to buy itself you know." After that moral boost, she finally opened her front door, went down the elevator of her apartment and ducked into her car.

* * *

Across the city, several gunshots ran out in the 'bad' parts of the neighborhood. Police car sirens were heard soon after.

* * *

"How were your days off?" Ruth the laboratory technician beamed at Kyoko over the pile of blood samples dropped off by a hospital attendant. "Got your laundry done yet? You were complaining about the rain last week."

"Yes, finally. I thought my apartment was going to stink up a storm and my land lady will think something died in that miserable pile of underwear."

"Over dramatic much? I'm pretty sure sweat smells nothing like rotting meat."

"Oh you don't know how _awful_ it was. I just can't stand dirty laundry."

"Kyoko, you can't stand _anything_ dirty. It's part of your OCD remember?"

"Right, thanks for the reminder."

"Always welcome." Ruth grinned and loaded the sample racks with tubes for spinning. She walked over to the centrifuges and began to unload the samples into the machine, careful to balance the weight distribution. Kyoko seated herself in front of the computer and began to register the blood tests on the request forms.

"Ruth, when is your next holiday?" Kyoko asked, typing away frantically on the keyboard. "Your chemotherapy just ended. You ought to take some time off."

"Oh I don't know, I don't feel that bad right now. Everyone says it will be ok and then the bad part hits you, so maybe I'm waiting for the bad part to hit before I take the time off."

"You should be on holiday anyway, _anyone_ who just went on chemotherapy should not be working."

"Thanks honey, but I'm fine. _Really_." Ruth raised her eye brows as the centrifuge in front of her started making clanking noises. "Oh shi-, what is it now!?"

* * *

"S-six dead, nine injured sir," a junior police officer reported in a shaky voice to the police station via his car radio. "Seems like a gang brawl got interrupted and it just…turned into a gun fight suddenly… I'll be needing back up, the forensics team a-and a few ambulances!"

"Roger that."

* * *

Red lights flashing at the window caught Kyoko's attention. She looked over and then scowled.

"There goes the ambulance, three of them in fact! I _just KNEW it_. Never a quiet night when it's my turn, _never_!" She yelled with her fist raised in the air. Ruth shook her head behind her. "How many units of blood we got left? If it's MVA* it could get ugly in here."

Kyoko turned in time to see Ruth's frail looking back disappear into the blood bank section of the laboratory. _That girl doesn't know how pale and tired she looks_, Kyoko frowned.

* * *

"Hey officer," a weak voice called out to the lone police from the shadows. "What's going on? Wha-, where's my friends?"

The police squinted into the darkness, making out the shadows of a twenty-something boy struggling to sit up.

"My name is Douglas, I just got here after reports of gunshots being fired." Douglas shone his torch towards the voice. Noting a disheveled looking young man with brown spiky hair,_ that seems to be the popular hair cut these days_. Other than that, he doesn't seem to be injured too badly. A couple of scrapes on the forearm is all he could see. "Listen kid, the ambulance is going to be here any moment. In the mean time don't move, take it easy."

As Douglas directed his torch away from the young man, something shiny caught his eye. The boy was wearing a strangely decorated chunky looking ring on his right hand. _Oh great, I guess this one is for some serious questioning. If that ring doesn't spell gang association, nothing does_.

* * *

"Tea time!" Ruth hollered from across the laboratory, effectively waking up Kyoko and just in time to stop her from drooling onto her work bench.

"But-"

"Quickly! Before all that jazz from the dispatched ambulance shows up!" Ruth was already walking down the hallway leading to the hospital cafeteria.

"…so…how's your family doing?" Kyoko enquired carefully between bites of her chocolate muffin, diets be damned on night shifts.

"They're all good, in fact they're taking this chemotherapy stuff really well and I've never known they can be so supportive of me." Ruth replied while downing her coffee. "Speaking of family, what is that brother of yours doing now? You used to complain about all these mysterious injuries he'd get at school. Is he still that accident prone?"

"Uh, actually I'm not sure; it's becoming a mission to keep in touch." Kyoko flashed an irritated glare towards the ceiling. "He was really into sports in high school so he managed to find a job teaching sports at a private school in Italy. Or at least that's what he says. He emails me sometimes to tell me he's still alive; there has been occasions when he doesn't even turn up to family gatherings. I dunno, seems like he's hiding something don't you think?"

"A girl perhaps?"

"Oh God you have no idea how much I hope that is true."

"Eh? Really?"

* * *

"Ok, that's all of the nine injured guys in stable condition and ready to be transported." A medical officer waved at Douglas who nodded and waved back. "You're going to have to follow us in your police car, no room AT ALL in here."

"Got it, NamimoriHospital right?"

"Yep."

As the ambulance and the police car took off from the now quarantined crime scene, another sleek black car silently glided onto the road behind them, following in the distance.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"_Do you like waffles? Yeah we like waffle_-" Kyoko raised an eye brow at Ruth's choice for a cellphone ringtone. Ruth stares at the caller ID and sighs. "Hello, Dr Shamal."

_Dr Shamal? _Kyoko crushed the used paper cup which had contained her hot chocolate. _Isn't that the infamous womanizer doctor in the hospital? How did he get Ruth's phone number?_

"Yes Kyoko and I are still at tea. Oh, ok I see. Right then, thanks for the heads up. We'll head back now." Ruth blinked with a strange expression on her face. "You know, that was the first time he actually called for work related chat."

"What else does he call for?"

"To ask what colour underwear I'm wearing."

"What?!"

"Oh yeah, he said the three ambulances are going to be back any minute. They're probably taking blood samples as we speak. Dr Shamal mentioned that we should have four emergency O negative blood units* on standby ASAP. There is also a chance he'll activate the Massive Blood Transfusion Protocol." Ruth stood up and tossed all the rubbish into a nearby rubbish bin. "Stop cringing and let's roll Kyoko."

"Uurrrggh…"

* * *

A tall man with a white coat and looked like he hasn't shaved for a few days walked down brightly lit hospital hallways until he reached the emergency department. He skillfully weaved between the patients, nurses, house officers and the odd registrars until reaching a door with a police officer standing next to it. Flashing his hospital ID, the doctor nodded courteously at the uniformed man. The officer gestured of him to go through the door.

"Well this is an unpleasant surprise Hayato Gokudera." Dr Shamal drawled as he picked up and flipped through the silver haired man's patient notes. Gokudera himself was lying down on a bed, with a hand to the back of his head, as if he's trying to test how bad his concussion was. "Blunt force trauma to the back of the head. I'll take it it's the concussion that's making you not so talkative. Usually you're much more vocal than this."

"Shut up you old pervert!" The young man made it to a half sitting position before giving a groan when he started seeing the surrounding spin, he quickly slumped back and tried to cover his eyes in attempt to stop feeling sick.

"That's more like it. Now give me a quick idea what happened. That police officer is still outside waiting for answers you know?"

"God damn it! It wasn't supposed to turn out like this! We went to TALK things over like the Tenth requested. They fuckin-!"

"Keep talking loud like that and the whole world will know what happened." Dr Shamal replied sharply. He started taking Gokudera's blood sample in tubes with various cap colours, feeling satisfied when Gokudera winced as the needle left his arm. "You should be grateful; I had a quick look as you guys came in. No casualty in the family."

"That's because…the Tenth had a bad feeling and called in Reborn at the last minute…"

Dr Shamal looked up from a form he was writing out, _Reborn is in town? Well, things just got interesting._

"I'm going to have to keep a few of you back for some scans, that head of yours worries me in more ways than one," the doctor stood up and looked out the window to see more police cars turning up. "I suggest your story of last night's events consists of lots and _lots _of alcohol and partying. I'll go check up on the others and make some phone calls."

* * *

Kyoko just finished preparing 8 units of emergency O negative blood, she knows Dr Shamal only asked for four but in cases like this it's always better to be safe than sorry. She spotted Ruth receiving a stash of specimens from the transport chute linked to the hospital wards.

"Want a hand with labeling and registering those?" Kyoko made her way to the specimen registration computer table. "I'll scan the hospital forms and register them ok?"

"What I'd do without you?" Ruth flashed a smile and began to hand over the forms.

"Hmmm, yes, my friend Hana used to say that a lot to me when we were in high school."

"Yeah? You guys still keep in touch?"

"We have occasional catch-ups, but since we both work full time now it's rather hard to find mutual free time." Kyoko gave a curse when one wrinkled form got itself jammed in the scanner. _Come to think of it Hana and Haru are the only friends in high school that I've kept in touch with; man I'm such a loner. I bet I'm the most reclusive kid in the history of that high school._ Kyoko tore out the jammed paper in irritation and slammed the cover back none too gently. _I'm the COMPLETE opposite of that guy in high school. They dubbed him the 'School Prince', _Kyoko had to stifle a laugh at that, _yeah the nick name was corny as hell but the guy was HOT! His signature hair style consists of his medium length brown hair fashioned into messy spikes, maybe he was going for a badass gangster look but because at the time he wasn't so tall, in the end the effect seemed half-hearted at best. The guy's facial features are definitely worth envying over. He looks a bit more refined than the average rough looking boy, the big eyes and slightly longer than normal eyelashes were what made him look girlish, but the hard jaw line and the look of confidence in his eyes firmly puts him in the male gender territory. For some reason he's always so cheerful, down to earth and friendly to everyone despite how everyone already adored him, so it didn't seem like he's a snob either…_

"Errm, are you ok over there Kyoko?" Ruth was standing behind Kyoko's chair, peering down at the forms being registered. "I don't hear any typing…"

"You made me reminiscence about my high school years. You know, the most exciting part of my life which I'm not getting back," Kyoko removed one completed form after another as her fingers danced over the keyboard. "Now I can't seem to get that boy I had a crush on out of my head!" The last part was an attempted joke and Kyoko flicked another form over to the completed pile. Last form left.

"Hmmm…Tsunayoshi Sawada," Ruth murmured. Kyoko whipped her head back to stare at her colleague in shock, _since when did Ruth start reading minds? _She earned herself a surprised look in return. "…What? I was reading the name on that form."

_Eh?!_

* * *

* Emergency O negative blood units = Blood type O and Rh D negative units, considered to be generally compatible with majority of the population. There is still a slim chance of the patient having a very bad reaction to it though (it is not miracle blood after all) so the doctor in charge must make the decision of using it or not. It's only really used in emergencies (hence the name) like when if the patient is bleeding a river and needs blood or dies in the next minute or so.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Douglas was watching the entrance of the emergency department (ED) from the hospital car park. He really should be inside but found that with the amount of human traffic happening inside the building made it harder to keep track of who was coming and going, thus he settled for leaning against his police car with arms crossed and glared at the automatic glass double doors. _At least it's quiet out here_, he thought to himself. Hearing footsteps, he turned slightly to regard the approaching red haired man.

"Fancy meeting you here," the red haired man gave the uniformed police officer a hearty pat on the back like they were old pals. "How long has it been? Jeez, must have been a whole three days since we've worked together huh? How do you manage to get into this much trouble? Is it because you miss me?"

"Do you _really_ find that much joy in annoying others? And you wonder why people other than me refuse to work with you." The officer mentally sighed, he then brushed off the area where the other man touched him as if dusting off his uniform before looking over to his new companion. The younger male's red hair looked messy and unkempt; he wore a dark red T-shirt and a long oversized dark grey coat with a lot of safety pins and various colourful badges of all shapes over it, black skinny jeans and shiny black oxford shoes completed the bizarre look. "You're a detective Mr. Longchamp, and I truly wish sometimes you would look and act like one."

"Awww, where would the fun be in that?"

* * *

Dr Shamal was halfway through an opened door when a voice from a nearby hospital bench stopped him. "Dr Shamal," A young man with brown hair who was hunched over looking at the ground lifted his head and fixed his brown eyes on the man in white coat. "Please tell me what's happening."

"…How the _hell_ did you get out of your room Tsuna?" The annoyed look on the good doctor did not faze the man who only leaned back against the wall with an unreadable expression. With a loud sigh, the other man kicked open his own office door and mentioned for Tsuna to follow him inside.

"May I have the damage report?"

"Gokudera has mild concussion; Yamamoto has a dislocated shoulder and two fractures in his left leg, Lambo got off really light with just a shallow cut in the back. Last but not least, Hibari somehow managed to discharge himself from the hospital with severe bruises all over his body; I don't know how he managed that with the police right outside but those bruises-"

"-will most likely be looked at by his private family doctor." Tsuna finished off for him, his brown eyes looking intently out the window at the brightening sky outside. "That guy never trusts the public health system."

"How wise of him," Shamal yawned. "Unlike you lot of dumb shits."

"Yeah, I'm beginning to see your point," Tsuna replied dryly as he looked down at his badly bandaged forearms while trying his best to resist the urge to scratch at the wound sites which were starting to itch. The young nervous looking nurse who did the bandaging spent the majority of the time gawking at his handsome features rather than at what she was doing. There happens to be drawbacks to looking better than the average person, this was one of them. "So I hear there were deaths too?"

* * *

"Oh God, I thought we'd never make it!" Kyoko looked up at the rising sun outside the big laboratory windows. "Shift is nearly over!"

"It's actually better that we are busy since time actually passes a lot quicker that way," Ruth hung up the phone after finishing another conversation with ED.

"Steady work is good; a sudden three-ambulances-lot of work is NOT." Kyoko tapped her fingers on her chin. Staring at the clock on the wall, just waiting for eight' o clock to arrive. Kyoko started to go through the checklist for the nightshift staff to complete for the third time. _Maybe I should go see if Tsuna is alright before I head back home, oh wait what if he doesn't remember me? Did I even speak to him at all in high school? I think he said 'Hi' to me once, was that in the second year? Good lord, I think the closest I got to interact with his group of friends was back in first year when I had group project with Hayato Gokudera! The guy was rude and scary but he sure knew his stuff because we got an 'A' for that project…_

"Good morning," Miku the Head of Department for Specimen Registration walked in through the front door of the lab, reaching for a lab coat on the long row of hooks on the wall near the entrance. "I hope your night went well!" Behind Miku are the other day time laboratory workers coming in for work. Kyoko breathed a sigh of relief, according to the staff roster she will not have to do graveyard shift for a month.

"I guess that means it's home time for us," Ruth was already tossing her lab coat into the laundry bag. "Well, 'til next time Kyoko!"

"Yep, see you!"

Kyoko shuffled out the laboratory as well after giving a general account of what happened during the night to the morning laboratory workers. _Ok, I'm going to just go check with Dr Shamal to see if Tsuna's fine, then I shall go STRAIGHT HOME to sleep_. Kyoko nodded to herself as she took a left at the front entrance of the hospital instead of the usual right which leads to the underground parking area for hospital staff. _That is ALL I'm going to do…yes._

* * *

"So…six dead and nine injured?" The corners of the red haired detective's lips quirked up and he rubbed his hands together in a gleeful manner. He paused then, as if thinking deeply about something. "What are we doing here Douglas? Shouldn't we be at the crime scene?"

"We're waiting for the witnesses to be available for questioning!" Douglas threw up his hands in exasperation and shot the other man a scathing look. _THIS man is the entire reason for my high blood pressure!_ "Have you become dumb in the last three days when I wasn't looking? Witness statements are our top priority! Besides, our forensics team has started working on the crime scene four hours ago!"

"_What?_" The detective almost hissed, Douglas looked up in concern at this sudden change of attitude. "No, no, no, no, _nooooooooo_! When did this whole thing happen? Why didn't I get called in sooner?! Have you gone DAFT Douglas? We're going to the crime scene _right now_."

"But the witness-"

"Fuck the witnesses! Isn't that what those junior police officers are for? Even primary school students can TAKE NOTES Douglas!" Longchamp whipped out a navy coloured scarf and wrapped it around his neck carefully. "Let's go Douglas, the witness statements are a bloody joke anyways. Best focus on evidences that don't lie."

He then opened the police car door and slipped into the passenger seat, gesturing towards the driver's seat with a pointed look at the stubborn police man. Douglas pinched the bridge of his notes in frustration and sighed, he then got into the car as well.

As they pulled out of the hospital car park, Longchamp spotted a nervous looking girl with long light brown hair heading into ED in the reverse mirror. He scoffed, the ID card hanging from her neck meant she works at the hospital, _some hospital staff with the hopes of snagging herself a high earning doctor or consultant no doubt… How can they stand that sort of boring life?_

"Where is the crime scene?"

"One-hour drive, it's in the most infamous area of town."

"Good, wake me when we get there. I haven't slept for three days."

"…"

* * *

Currently Kyoko Sasagawa, twenty-four years old, officially registered medical laboratory scientist is tip-toeing through the noisiest part of the hospital where she works. _Wait, wait wait wait!_ Kyoko paused in mid-step, _with the amount of commotion in ED right now I can barge in like a lunatic and still be lost in the crowd! Why am I trying to sneak around anyway? My concerns and fully justified and-_

"Kyoko?" A hand landed on Kyoko's shoulder from behind. "What are you doing here?"

"Uh-ah?!" Kyoko turned and saw Ruth looking curiously at her.

"Isn't your car on the other side of the hospital, Kyoko?"

"Oh erm, well…" The younger woman swore her own face was starting to look like someone with an acute onset of asthma attack. "I thought with what happened last night in ED, I should…"

With a sudden look of comprehension, Ruth gave a sly smirk.

"Say no more, youngster. I know _exactly_ what you're thinking. Is this still about that boy you crushed on during high school?"

"Not just me! Everyone loved him!" Kyoko wanted to add that she suspected some of the _guys_ in her class probably liked him in a funny way too but thought better of it. "So he's a nice person and I'm just genuinely concerned!"

"…Uh huh."

Kyoko huffed at Ruth's unconvinced tone.

"Really! I'm not even going to see him! I'm just going to ask Dr Shamal if he's fine and afterwards I'm gone."

"If you ask nicely I can tell you the location of the wards where they're likely to keep the ED patients before they move them to the medical units." Ruth crossed her arms, her smirk growing wider by the minute.

"You…you….you are _impossible_ lady!" Kyoko smacked the other's arm lightly. "What are _you_ doing here anyway? Can't get enough of Dr Shamal?"

"Ugh, you said it, but not in that way," Ruth rolled her eyes. "He's the consultant for breast cancer, more importantly _my_ consultant and he said there's been a change to my chemotherapy timetable _again_. I swear, the next time the man thinks it's Ok to make me drive two hours to the next town for treatment on a _weekend_, I _will_ skin him alive."

"I'll just tag along with you then since we're both going to see him." Kyoko pulled her hand bag higher up her shoulders and Ruth nodded.

"You're no fun at all Kyoko. The TV drama laws say that you must _surprise_ an injured lover by being at his bedside before he wakes up and hold his hand while-"

"Ruth, he doesn't even know me. He'll very likely call the hospital security to remove a stranger from his room."

"Sheesh, I'm just offering ideas all right?"

* * *

"Two civilians died and four injured," Dr Shamal sat down in front of his office computer. Browsing for any media coverage on what transpired during the night on the internet. Tsuna sat cross-legged on the patient bed, back to the wall. "Well, if you count the drugs and alcohol addicts as civilians that is."

"They are not part of it though, and the extra body count means this event will not be brushed under the carpet so easily. People _are_ going to talk."

"Bad timing too, my sources say some big-name detective is in town. He went missing for a few years prior, there were rumors about him being in an undercover mission or something but I call BS on that. The guy probably just wanted a vacation."

"I got Mukuro looking into that already."

"One thing I want to clear up with you though," Shamal twirled around in his chair to face Tsuna with a serious look. "I'm hearing disturbing news regarding you and the Vongola. I thought it was a done deal when you got initiated as the new boss."

"I didn't like the ways the old Vongola was being ran, so I've decided on some drastic changes." Tsuna shrugged, the dread in his eyes betraying his nonchalant gesture. "Some individuals in Vongola disapproved."

"What changes did you make?"

"I want to dissolve Vongola completely."

"…" Shamal sucked in a deep breath, leaned back in his chair as far as he could. This information took a few seconds to fully sink into his mind, and he's what people called a _professional_. "Really? That's it? I mean it's _not_ like you're trying to destroy their very livelihood-Oh wait that's _exactly_ what you're doing boy! I'm not surprised they are fighting back Tsuna, and you're doing an _exceptional_ job in putting me between a rock and a hard place. If _Reborn_ is here-" Shamal had to pause in mid-rant as the door to his office was thrown open for the second time in one hour.

"Doctor Shamal! I demand extra travel compensation and I want _you_ to get those compensation application forms!" A tall woman with pale red hair yelled from the door way, she then noticed Tsuna on the bed who was froze in a fight-or-flight sort of pose. "Oh honey did I scare you? I'm so sorry. I'm just a bit stressed and tired from work."

"Uh, it's fine." Tsuna managed a weak smile and settled on the bed again. He realized that there's another girl standing behind the woman, staring at him in shock. _Come to think of it, she kind of looks familiar…maybe I've seen her in a photo somewhere?_

"Tsunayoshi Sawada? That's you isn't it?" The girl stammered. Tsuna's initial reaction was to deny his identity and tell the girl she got the wrong person but something at the back of his mind was nagging at him about the girl's identity and as a result his answer wasn't exactly one of the brightest things he's said in life.

"Uurrhh—no, I mean, yeah—umm do I know you?"

* * *

**Author's thoughts for the chapter: **

Thanks for the love and support guys. As a way of hurrying the actual plot up (and slowing down rate of chapter output, yes shoot me) I'll try to go for more words in each chapter because my original quota of ~1000 words per chapter was just getting us nowhere… Oh yeah, someone mentioned they thought Tsuna worked in ED, hahahah you're not the first to assume that but this isn't the Grey's Anatomy variation on KHR so no (and I never watched that show).

Also I'd like to know if I had at least blown _someone's_ mind when I made Longchamp a detective in here. At first I was thinking of using OCs (which 2 main ones have popped up but they're not useless OCs, they're OCs WITH a purpose!) but then I thought what-the-hell KHR has a wide enough character base as it is so I just then had that moment of pure genius/madness.

Btw, I didn't do it on purpose but with the age, it seems like this is actually TYL/AU. But that's cool, makes the guys hotter doesn't it? *whistles innocently*

Lastly, in a highly unprofessional manner, I have picked a main music theme for this particular story (yes I'm slowly going insane, way past the 'talking to myself' phase already thank you). If this story was an actual TV drama and the chapters are episodes, well at the end of each episode I'd like this music to be the 'credits' theme:

Title: The Flower like the Fantasy

Remixer/artist: Dark PHOENiX

Original artist: ZUN

Original Source: Touhou 9 Phantasmagoria of Flower View

This music is all over youtube, nothing more to say.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Oh, I'm Kyoko Sasagawa. I was in your class during high school." Kyoko offered a timid but cheerful smile. _Oh well, I didn't expect him to remember me but still…I have to say I'm a bit disappointed_. "We never really talked so don't worry if you can't remember me." _That's what I get for getting my hopes up_. Kyoko suddenly noticed Tsuna had sat up straighter in the bed and his whole figure stiffened a lot more.

"Huh? …Sasagawa? You…wouldn't happen to be the younger sister of Ryohei, would you?" Tsuna asked, he narrowed his eyes a bit. "I seem to remember Ryohei mentioning that he has a younger sibling."

"No way! You _know _my big brother?" _Well THAT idiot never mentioned it to me!_ Kyoko mentally added. "He's in Italy right now though. You two know each other well?"

"Well I guess you can say that, did he say that he'll be coming back to Namimori soon?" Tsuna tried his best to steer the conversation into what he considers safer waters. "Because I heard he is."

"What? Really!? He hasn't said a thing. Last time he spoke to me was two weeks ago!" Kyoko was getting more and more frustrated at her secretive big brother. _I'm his sibling and he never tells me anything! _"Tsunayoshi, You wouldn't happen to know if he's dating anyone right now, would you?"

Ruth coughed discreetly in the background, Kyoko ignored her.

"Eh…you can just call me Tsuna, and I haven't heard anything like that from him," Tsuna honestly looked caught off-guard on that question. _I haven't had a conversation with normal girls for so long I completely forgot they don't think like men at all! _"Why not ask him yourself? He said he'll be back in two weeks time."

"Ahem," Dr Shamal waved his arms in the air to catch everyone's attention. "As much as I enjoy having a lively working place and the company of such lovely ladies, this conversation is starting to sound like it belongs in a café on a sunny day between two old friends catching up…or dating, which ever you prefer." Tsuna raised an eye brow as he wondered what Shamal is up to and Kyoko did her best to not blush.

"That's right; I'm here for those forms Dr Shamal, if Kyoko doesn't feel like going home as soon as possible to do some serious sleeping that's her choice. I'm becoming a zombie here!" Ruth cut in while opening her bag for her medical referrals and various test results. "Ask for his number Kyoko, you guys can do all the talking you like later."

Kyoko shot Ruth a murderous glare.

"Well Kyoko, Ryohei will be in town as well so I don't mind if we all have a get-together some time." Tsuna held open his hand for Kyoko's phone to put his number in. _I guess I'll just give her the number to the phone I use for interacting with normal people I guess._ "Here's your phone back. But I probably wont be available these couple of days since I'll be in hospital."

"Oh it's fine Tsuna," Kyoko paused as if remembering something. "That's right Tsuna, what _happened_ to you-"

"Please! Ladies!" Dr Shamal's disapproving tone has started to sound decently annoyed now. "I was actually talking with a patient before you all barged in and decided to befriend him. Now Ruth I will get those forms filled and sent for you so no worries. You can get off my back now and go get some rest."

"Sheesh all right my good doctor, no need to be so irritated at us girls. We'll be going then." Ruth crossed her arms after throwing down a pile of paper onto Dr Shamal's desk. "Come on Kyoko, we're obviously not needed anymore here."

"Right, well you take care, Tsuna. Bye, Doctor Shamal." Kyoko nodded and walked out of the room with Ruth following closely behind. The two of them made their way to the staff car park area in silence and then Ruth smacked Kyoko on her back none too gently.

"You can thank me by inviting me to high tea at that expensive café downtown by the way!" Ruth gleefully nudged Kyoko with her elbow.

"Thank you for what?" Kyoko was looking for her car key in her bag.

"Hooking you up with your old crush of course!" Ruth did a twirl before facing Kyoko fully. "I never thought I'd be so good at setting up possible romances! You think I should get into matchmaking?"

"…But you didn't _do _anything."

"Excuse moi! I was the one who suggested that you get his number, and now you have it."

"…Hmmm, how about I pay half your cost at the next high tea?"

"Only half?! Is the price of love so little?"

"Have you ever made it to the actual price section of that café's menu?" Kyoko snorted at her friend's expression of aghast. "With the price they have for those cakes, I'm expecting them to be sprinkled with actual gold dust."

"…Hey I hear that they really do that you know?"

"That'll kill most of their customers Ruth. I highly doubt encouraging heavy metal ingestion is part of their objective."

* * *

"…What is this, Douglas?" Detective Longchamp stood in the middle of the street, blinking sleepily at the bright yellow tapes saying "DO NOT CROSS" in front of him.

"The crime scene, didn't you want to be here?" Douglas grumbled as he approached the tapes as well, squinting into the distance. He can make out about ten forensic specialists walking around the place, there were also numerous police officers walking out of the abandoned buildings nearby. This section of town is known to be notorious for all the drug addicts, car gangs and street gangs that likes to hang around. This street especially, contains really nothing but abandoned townhouses and office buildings. There are graffiti literally covering all surfaces along the street and in the buildings.

"No, I meant, what are we doing on _this_ side of the tape, we should be right in there!" Longchamp grabbed the offending quarantine police tapes and started to lift them in order to pass into the cordoned off area. "What are those losers doing there? Can't they tell they're completely demolishing this precious crime scene?! Those officers don't have any gloves on at all!"

"Hey, you crazy!? Stop that!" Douglas pulled Longchamp back by the collar of his coat. "We're not allowed to go contaminate the crime scene while the forensics are still working there!"

"Oh trust me; by now _those_ guys have already done all the contaminating, I'm just hoping there is still some proper evidence left." The young detective shrugs off Douglas' hands and kicks at the stones on the street in irritation. "Douglas, you should know better than to call me in this late. Now I need to rely on the police and the forensics to tell me essential information and we _both_ know how reliable _they_ can be."

"You don't have to insult my profession every chance you get Longchamp," Douglas could feel a migraine coming on. "I was one of the first on the scene; I'll try to remember as much as I can."

"I don't mean to mock your enthusiasm, but the average person can only recall less than sixty percent of all details during an event they consider important and when the event takes place during the night even less, so it is likely that you remember approximately forty percent of all the minuscule details that I require." Longchamp squatted on the side of the road like a child and pouted with a dull expression. "Then there's also the strong possibility, no, _certainty_ that you never saw some important clues because you simply didn't know where to look for them."

"Well, my dear detective," Douglas sat down next to the other man, doing his best to resist the urge to strangle the other with his scarf. "You can say I'm not the average person anymore. After all, this isn't the _first_ case we've ever cooperated on." He reached into the pocket of his police uniform jacket and pulled out a slim digital camera. "Here are quite a few photos I took of the crime scene. The majority of the other police haven't arrived at the time. I did my best to walk around the scene, trying to get anything interesting and knowing you, I also took some scenic shots at basically just the buildings. I noticed you really like to look at the big picture while examining crime scenes."

"Oh? I must say that this is most unexpected," Longchamp snatched the digital camera away from the policeman and began to browse through the photos, looking fascinated and was oblivious to how much Douglas looked pleased with himself. "By the way, I really hope you had the sense to turn off the camera flash in some photos. Some clues could be the glow-in-the-dark type."

"You are _fucking_ welcome."

* * *

"What did Reborn say?" Shamal continued to pry for information from Tsuna. He was still getting his head around all this news. If what Tsuna said before about disbanding the Vongola is true, then the 'attack' last night could just be the beginning.

"He didn't say anything because I haven't told him yet," Tsuna replied evenly. He was getting more edgy with all these questions Shamal was throwing at him but he forced himself to stay calm and answer as much as he could. He could no longer afford to get upset by such things like answering questions anymore. _Rattled nerves never helped me before and it will not help me now._ "To be honest, I have only hinted to the Ninth about my intentions. I have not made any official declarations of any sort. But the attack on us last night was more coordinated than just street gangsters brawling for territory. I think Vongola more or less had a hand in it. Which means my intentions for Vongola must have been leaked somehow."

"This is just getting better and better, why do I have this feeling like I'm witnessing a fucking train wreck?" Shamal pulled open a small fridge under his desk, there were a few soft drinks and iced coffee drinks inside, he then proceeded to open up the freezer compartment for a small glass bottle of vodka. "Here, I've rigged all your blood test results for alcohol but this is for just in case some police tries the breath tester on you." He tossed the bottle to Tsuna who opened it, caught a whiff and grimaced. _I like my alcohol as much as the next guy but this is some strong stuff…_

"Oh come on don't be such a baby _now_," Shamal noticed Tsuna's look of uncertainty as he flipped through the numerous paperwork on his desk. "And FYI, that is from my secret stash too so you should be feeling so _very_ honored. Make sure you give some of it to all the members of your team as soon as you leave."

"Do _all _doctors have secret stashes of alcohol?" Tsuna took a swig with a semi bemused expression, the first time he really relaxed since early last night.

"You don't know _half _the shit we have to put up with." Shamal grunted and began typing away on his laptop. "The luckier ones get to prescribe themselves some 'happy' drugs as I call it."

"…I see."

The peaceful moment was shattered when Shamal's office phone started ringing.

"This is doctor Shamal, how can I help you?" The doctor picked up the phone without having his eyes straying from his laptop.

"Good morning, doctor Shamal," A deep smooth voice began. "May I have a word with Tsunayoshi Sawada please?"

"_Goddamit…_" Shamal cringed and turned to Tsuna, shoving the handset of the phone towards the young man who looked up in alarm. "It's Reborn."


End file.
